Post sayings or stories from Buddhist traditions which you find interesting, inspiring or useful. (Your own stories are welcome on DW, but in the Creative Writing or Personal Experience forums rather than here.)

So, I've had some hangups that've held me back in a pretty big way. Namely, I have HUUUGE hangups about praying, because of where I was raised and where I went to school. Although I live in a very liberal area now, I was raised in a small town in a mostly rural area where I, as a Catholic, did not fit in. I was bullied throughout grade school, first for my social awkwardness, and then for my faith. The second part is what has held me back. I went to a fundamentalist, evangelical Christian high school. It was the kind of place where "I'll pray for you" is not always meant well...basically I'm used to having prayer used against me and others like me as if it were a weapon.

I've felt stuck in a rut for the past few days and haven't been able to figure out why. But this morning I decided to set aside some of my breakfast as an offering....and, I prayed. I asked that the merit from the offering I was giving be used to benefit all sentient creatures. Then I ate, and afterwards, I scattered the offering portion outside for the birds and bugs and other critters.

I feel wonderful, like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, because now I know that my prayers are for everyone, not just people like me.

NAMO SARASWATI DEVI
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
I am a delicate feminine flower!!!!

It's bodhichitta (sp?) I guess you can just call it compassion. When we get over our hangups and are able to be compassionate even a little bit, we will normally feel much better. This is also why metta meditation and other compassion based meditations will often make us feel good, or even euphoric.

I think prayer in Buddhism can be said to differ from Christianity in a number of ways.

Indeed. I was used to "I will pray for you" being meant as "you are going to hell" that even in Japan, when I gave alms to a monk, when he said "I will pray for you" the familiar choking in my throat overwhelmed the feeling of joy I'd gotten from his blessing.

NAMO SARASWATI DEVI
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
I am a delicate feminine flower!!!!

Redfaery wrote:It was the kind of place where "I'll pray for you" is not always meant well...basically I'm used to having prayer used against me and others like me as if it were a weapon.

The old saying, ...
sticks and stone may break my bones but names will never hurt me
comes to mind ...
If my name is dirt then when people call me dirt then it is only may name
How can one hurt me by calling me my name??

If every time someone said "I'll pray for you" and meant it in a bad way
All one has to do is to say thank you for your prayers
Often misunderstanding someone on purpose does more to frustrate them than any come back line

Holding hurt feelings because someone else said something ... only hurts you
Freeing yourself by letting it go and wish others well ... it releases all that heavy stuff

gloriasteinem wrote:I think in Christianity it is the prayer that is the most powerful since there isn't really meditative practice.

That's not true, actually. It may not be widely encouraged in churches you've been to, but the tradition is old and still strong. Wikipedia's overview - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_meditation - is good, although they could have said more about the differences between 'meditation' (which is primarily verbal) and 'contemplative prayer' (which isn't). The second of these is closer to Buddhist meditation.